In my latest YouTube video, I fawned all over Cowon’s Plenue D2 and I’m miffed. Miffed that, loaded or unloaded, the 2400$ SPM1000M shows a sizeable step back from Cowon’s little engine. And, in several categories (mainly loaded), the SPM1000M is worse than its older, bleeding-edge, sibling, the AK380. Sure, we’re splitting hairs- atoms even. Dynamic range differences between 110dB and 120, let alone 117dB and 121dB, are minuscule on a test bench, and positively homeopathic at the ear. And if you’re listening to music louder than 100dB, you’ll not be listening to anything for long. I doubt anyone even listens to sensitive earphones at iPhone maximum volumes. But if you do, note that matched to that output level, the SPM1000M certainly tests better than an iPhone SE, but apart from stereo crosstalk, not by leaps and bounds. And it hisses more.

I love the AK70 MKII’s new volume pot. I dig its new lines. I even dig the new colour accents. However, I’m not ecstatic about its measured performance, especially when compared back to back with that of its predecessor. I can confirm that the AK70 gets similarly loud, that its boot up screen is smooth, and that, like its predecessor, its signal is cleanest at a setting of 136, where stereo crosstalk, which tops out around -87 at max volume, breaks -100dB. Of course, the MKI measures -118dB without load, and -75dB connected to an Earsonics SM2. As far as I can tell, that is the only improvement the MKII brings.

I consider myself something of a skeptic. Not a real skeptic. I let narratives carry me away far too often, and question things I’m down with far too seldom. But I try to make it a point to distain the belief in listening and believing. For audio stuff: that test has to be hardware, standardised, volume-matched, and snarky.

At the top of every every audiophile’s wish list should be the democratisation of headphone output performance. Think Chord Mojo, Theorem 720, ALO Continental. For good reason - hiss, poor output impedance, connection problems, and general shyte performance - Bluetooth DAC/amps rarely make the cut.

Marketing copy worthy of blooper reels is one of Astell&Kern’s fortes. And, Music Friend In My Pocket, AK70, is the cringingly, suggestively ugly even by AK standards. Bravo. Despite, this, the AK70 itself is handsome. Sure, its Korean edges will draw blood. But it is shorter than an iPhone 5 and not much larger than an original AK120. Get a case for it. It will fit in your pocket.

Consider this article a happy follow-up to the 'dud' MS-AK100 RMAA results I just posted. The results below describe the unit I originally reviewed at Headfonia. They describe a DAP which largely outperforms the AK240, and which, in many metrics, stays toe-to-toe with the 3500$ USD AK380.

My publish order is totally off. Yesterday, Headfonia published my review of the Astell&Kern AK380. The AK380 is a sometimes-awesome, sometime-awful DAP, chock full of hardware potential which is wrecked only by its painfully angular design, poor marketing copy, and comparatively poor lazy amp design.

Astell & Kern's daft copywriting strikes again, this time belittling the performance of its AK Jr. Jr, which goes for 499$ USD -- or about a fifth the price of AK's biggest mindshare devices -- is, in many metrics, able to stand toe-to-toe with the AK240 and AK380; in some arenas, it blows them out of the water. I will be reviewing it at Headfonia sometime next week. Until then, let the following impressions stand in: